Boston Red Sox Report Cards: Brock Holt
The BoSox Injection staff reflects on the 2016 season by grading each member of the Boston Red Sox based on expectations for them entering the season.
Brock Holt was named the Opening Day left fielder for the Boston Red Sox way back in March, beating out Rusney Castillo in Spring Training. Holt, who has been a utility man his entire career and coming off a year where he was an American League All-Star, finally got his chance to be an every day player to begin the year.
However, things didn’t work out too well for the gritty Holt. He started mainly every game from Opening Day until Holt suffered a concussion on May 18th, landing him on the disabled list until the first of July. He was hitting .227 when he suffered a concussion.
Holt bounced back and had a decent July, hitting .288, but saw his time in left field limited once Andrew Benintendi was called up on August 2nd. After the call-up, Holt returned to the role he had been in before, seeing some time all over the field.
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Holt appeared in 94 games this season and started in 76 of them. He had 64 appearances in left field,17 at third base, 8 at second base, 7 at shortstop and 5 in right field. Holt finished the season hitting .255 with 7 homers and 34 runs batted in.
With Travis Shaw having a terrible second half (hitting just .194) the Red Sox had a hole at third base towards the end of the season and heading into the playoffs. With Yoan Moncada seeming to be over powered at the Major League level, and Travis Shaw struggling to hit his weight, the Red Sox turned to Brock Holt to be the third basemen for the postseason.
Holt led the team in hitting during Boston’s short postseason stint going 4-for-10 with a homer. He played a good defensive third base and was really the only guy in their line up that produced during the Red Sox playoff run.
Grade: B
What’s next?
As of right now, Holt’s status is unknown. Barring any trades, the Red Sox every day outfield will consist of Benintendi, Jackie Bradley Jr and Mookie Betts. With Pablo Sandoval coming back from shoulder surgery, Moncada potentially being Major League ready and Travis Shaw still in the mix, it’s unknown whether Holt will see every day time at third base.
Holt could be trade bait in the offseason for a starting pitcher since the free agent market for pitchers isn’t too strong this year. However, as long as Holt is on the Red Sox expect him to play every position on the field, and when he does, be a spark plug that plays the game hard.